3-day Isle of Skye tour review. Day one.

My heart's in the Highlands, my heart is not here,
My heart's in the Highlands a-chasing the deer -
A-chasing the wild deer, and following the roe;
My heart's in the Highlands, wherever I go.

 At 8:30 am my husband and I were standing next to the travel agency on the Royal Mile in Edinburgh, where we became acquainted with our fellow travelers. We will spend the next three days in the journey with the travelers from China, Ireland, Spain, US and all of them are really nice people!
And of course, I'd like to share my impressions with you )

1-day trip to Minsk, Belarus.

Last summer my husband and I had a business trip in Minsk, Belarus and we had some free time to explore the city. While I am working on the review of the 3-days tour to the island of Skye, I'd be glad to tell you about 1-day trip to Minsk.
Minsk was founded in 1067, but this city looks quite new. This is not surprising, because most of Minsk was destroyed during World War II, and within the city almost no historical buildings, excepting a tiny area in the center of the city.
People nostalgic for Soviet times love Minsk, because that city has retained all the best traditions of USSR of the 1980s. I like Minsk, because the streets are wide and clean, air is fresh, and there is no traffic jams. It's the real island of Soviet life, that's surprising for Muscovites.
Well, let's take a walk  )

Where to eat and drink in Edinburgh

Edinburgh has many very good restaurants and other eating places. We were pleasantly surprised by the food because we had no problem finding what we wanted to eat. From fish & chips to haggis, even the fried foods were good and didn't give us any problems, even though we don't eat much fried food at home. 

The list of my favorite places to eat and drink in Edinburgh is below

3 days in Edinburgh. Day 3. Arthur's Seat

On third day we decided to walk up Arthur's Seat following this route.
Arthur's Seat is one of the must-do's in the Edinburgh. There are numerous different options for hikes and walks and several different ways to reach the peak, all of varying degrees of difficulty.
There are two parts to Arthurs Seat, The Crags and Arthurs Seat. The easiest and simplest ascent is from the East, where a grassy slope rises above Dunsapie Loch, a small artificial loch located between Dunsapie Hill and Arthur's Seat.

3 days in Edinburgh. Day 2. Calton Hill and Britannia

Today we go for a walk on the Calton Hill, after that we will take a bus tour to Leith for the Royal Yacht Britannia.

3 days in Edinburgh. Day 1. Royal Mile

At first a few details about Edinburgh. The central area of the city isn't very big, and if you walk fast, you can get from one end to the other in a couple hours. The city is split into 2 parallel areas, the Old Town, which was the central part of the city for centuries, and the New Town which was started in the 1700's to alleviate overcrowding in the Old Town. The center of the Old Town is called the Royal Mile, and stretches from Edinburgh castle to Holyrood Palace, home to the British Monarch on her visits to Edinburgh. The Royal Mile is full of interesting places, stores, museums, restaurants, etc. The New Town and the Old Town are separated by the The Mound (once upon a time it was the city's garbage heap) and connected by the Waverly Station, the main train station. Also in between the two parts are the beautiful Princes Gardens, and the National Gallery, the main city museum.

A Cat in a Bath.

This is my cat. Her name is Cat.  She hates baths, and I hate giving them to her. When she gets the bath, she has this look full of panic in her eyes.

First time to Scotland. Trip details.

We had this trip to Scotland  in June 2010. 

I think it will be very useful to share technical details of this trip for first-timers .

Giant matryoshkas

These 10m high matryoshkas you may see on the top floor in Afimall shopping center above the Vystavochnaya metro station.
Each doll was made in one of styles of Russian folk art: Khokhloma's painting; the art of lacquer painting from Fedoskino and Palekh, Zhostovo's ornamental painting  and Vologda's lace.
These matryoshka dolls were made by hand, more than 15 artists worked on each installation.

Men's day trip to Edinburgh (23 February)

Snow in spring, Moscow.

While the calendar may have you thinking it's spring, here's what parts of Moscow looked like earlier today.
When will Spring come? 

March, 8

Hi, dears
Sorry about the lack of posts about trip to Edinburgh this week.
I have been really, really ill these past few days. I had middle ear infection with high temperatures, and it caused temporary hearing problems.
Today I returned back to the office after sick leave, and I was very surprised and delighted to find some gifts on my table.
Tomorrow is 8 March - Women's Day in Russia. Russian women will be queens for this day. We don't care that this first spring holiday is a day for revolutionary women and celebrating women's economic, political and social achievements. Nowadays it is the holiday of spring, love and beauty, so women of all ages will receive flowers especially tulips, candies, perfumes, jewelry and other gifts from their husbands, children, male colleagues.
For me each day is like March 8. My husband doesn't really need a special day on the calendar to appreciate me. But it's so nice to get a flowers and greetings from colleagues and friends!
That means spring is knocking on my door! -)

I'm going on holidays to...

Valentine’s Day Post: I Love My Job

With this happy heart that I’d like to take this chance to wish each and everyone one of you, a very HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY! 
And a special THANK YOU to all of you who have given me the great honor to work with you.

Bahamas cruise, day 4 - Coco Cay island

On the last day of the cruise we went to Coco Cay.
There's just one way to get Coco Cay island - aboard a Royal Caribbean cruise ship. Royal Caribbean owns this island - every square inch of it. Now you probably won't see the name CocoCay on a map, but it's there. Coco Cay is one of the Berry Islands, it used to be called Little Stirrup Cay, and if you find it on a map, it will be under that name.
I absolutely love this island. The water is just gorgeous, turquoise and crystal clear! Lots to do, or you can just relax!
The day was warm and sunny, and the water temperature was warm. We snorkeled and we saw lots of exotic fish!  Later we went to the BBQ that was provided on the island, and we finished this day on one of RC excursions.
It was absolutely excellent ending of cruise! An unforgettable experience!

Macarons!

Enjoy the photo, I'm going to go enjoy the cookies now

Его Котейшество

Just me

Bahamas cruise, day three - Nassau

Новое утро - новый порт.
Сегодня прибыли в Нассау. Первым делом прямо с корабля попадаем в центр информации для туристов, получаем карту местных достопримечательностей и идем исследовать остров.

Tonight